Petr from Pu-erh.sk sent some samples of his 2013 cakes in late Summer. Was waiting for some space in life where these samples could get some nice attention and a time when one's body was craving the edgey energy of raw puerh. In the extraordinary cold that is the Canadian prairies these cravings are few and far between. That time was this week.. so without further pause here is the first sample, a piece off his 2013 Youle cake:
Dry leaves smell of soft distant deep pungent forest odors with almost unrecognizable sweet undertones.
The first infusion offers a muddled taste of blandish/bitter. These tastes are dirty and slightly gritty with a grapefruit like taste barely noticed under it all. The mouthfeel has a slight chalky taste mainly on the tongue. The aftertaste continues these dirty/ bland tastes.
The second infusion gives off a sour lime citrus taste initially before waves of bitter and dirtier edges take over. There is a slight flash of coca bean in the overwhelmingly bland and bitter notes. The citrus grapefruit/ lime aftertaste is subtle over the more obvious. The mouthfeel now coats the tongue. Dirtier coco, almost creamy-dirty tastes, arrive minutes later.
The third infusion is a dirty and barely creamy initial taste which gets overwhelmed with a grapefruit-sour taste. As the brackish tastes build in the mouth they peek leaving behind a dirty coco taste in the mouth. The mouthfeel now involves the upper throat as well. There are sour tastes lingering throughout and even floral tastes break through. The qi of this tea is subtle, it stuffs the head a touch, and lightens the limbs as well.
The fourth infusion still presents with lots of sour citrus notes but the coco, even slightly creamy tastes are more obvious.
The fifth presents with even creamier notes the brackish base is now less dominant. This results in an creamier but still muddled. The sixth is much the same. There is still a lingering sour grapefruit undertone. A slight creamy swell develops on the breath with grapefruit.
Seventh is mainly just bitter and sour. With grapefruit notes coming out in the aftertaste. A subtle creamy floral taste still manages to linger on the breath.
Jakub's (T) Tasting Notes
Cajovy Kamen Tasting Notes
Hobbes' (The Half-Dipper) Tasting Notes
Peace
I hope you're surviving the winter okay, Matt. I've heard it's been a rough one!
ReplyDeleteJoseph,
ReplyDeleteYou heard correctly. It's been one of the coldest yet. Staying warm with lots of tea- mainly black Darjeeling or puerh.
Nice to hear from you.
Peace
Hello!
ReplyDeleteCould you, please, explain, what you mean by "dirty". Probably, my English is very poor, I always thought that "dirty" is the absence of purity. I like peter's YouLe very much, drink it quite frequently, and I don't see any trace of dirty of any kind in it.
Thank you!
Irina Ivanova,
ReplyDeleteThanks for the question.
To clarify, "dirty" was meant to mean an absence "clarity". "Dirty" in this context was meant to mean "muddled" and doesn't really refer to "purity". Rather it refers to a density of low, muddled, earthy and dirt tasting tastes.
This Youle was unique in that it was quite powerful for a Youle region tea.
Peace